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“Don’t worry, AJrs. 


Frog’s mouth is no larger than yours” 



COTTONTAIL 

AND THE 

WISHING-FAIRY 

AND OTHER STORIES 

BY 

CORINNE INGRAHAM 

["COIUNNE”] 

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY 

Dugald Stewart Walker 



NEW YORK 

BRENTANO’S 

PUBLISHERS 






Copyright, 1921, by 

BRENTANO’S 


All rights reserved 


OCT 28 '21 

■0)C!.A630045 

AAO I 


tro 

MY CHILDREN 

CORINNE AND PHOENIX 
TO WHOM THESE LITTLE 
STORIES WERE FIRST TOLD 



QW- 









FOREWORD 


^ELL a child stories of legends and of fairies, so that 
he can hear the music of the little creatures of the 
woods, and can sense the throbbing of the flowers’ 
hearts ; and you will have given him some- 
thing that will tint his whole life with 
beauty — a beauty which sordid details of 
the world can not smother. 

The young mind should early be im- 
pregnated with the poetry of nature; for 
without doubt the impressions of baby- 
hood remain the most poignant of life. 

It is my conviction that only by constant repetition in the 
simple and direct wording familiar to a child can big under- 
lying truths be accentuated in his forming mind. 

With this in view I have tried in the following sketches to 
establish a certain animal fellowship, including a moral sig- 
nificance which the little one will unconsciously accept. 

I should like to see in every nursery a song-bird, 
a bowl of fish and a pot of growing flowers, — and 
without, the wide, wild fields and woods. 




CoRRiNNE Ingraham. 


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COTTONTAIL AND THE WISHING-FAIRY 



rabbits 
of soft 
able. 


AVE you ever heard of the little rabbit who 
felt sorry for himself? No? Well he was 
a nice little rabbit and he lived way down 
in a big hole in the ground. He lived with 
his little sisters and brothers and with his 
big Daddy Rabbit and Mother Rabbit. All 
day long he would play around and look for 
good things to eat, and at ‘night he would go 
to bed in a soft corner of the big hole, curl up 
and go fast asleep. 

It was nice and warm in the hole where the 
lived because Daddy and Mother Rabbit had put lots 
grass down there to make their baby rabbits comfort- 
Sometimes at night when there was snow on the ground 


II 



12 THE WISHING-FAIRY’S ANIMAL FRIENDS 


and the moon and the stars were shining up in the sky they 
would all wake up and come out of the hole and dance around 
on the snow. They danced and ran around and around and 
had a beautiful time. I know they would do this, because I 
have seen them, and in the morning I could even see on the 
snow the tiny marks of their funny little feet where they had 
been playing and dancing. 

They were all very happy except the little rabbit who was 
sorry for himself. His name was “Cottontail” because his 
tail looked like a little ball of white cotton. Now can you 
guess why he was sorry for himself ? No? Because he could 
not hear enough. He wanted to be able to hear everything — 
so what do you think he did? 

One night when Daddy and Mother Rabbit and all the baby 
rabbits were fast asleep he got up and crept out of the hole. 
He was very careful and quiet so as not to wake them up. He 
didn’t come out to dance and play. He began running! He 
ran just as fast as he could. Oh! 
How he ran! After running — klip- 
perty kip, klipperty-kip, klipperty-kip, 
for a long, long time he came to the 
End-of-the-earth — and that is very far 
away. 

Have you ever heard of the “Wish- 
ing-Fairy”? No? Well, the Wish- 
ing-Fairy lives at the End-of-the-earth 
and it is very hard to find her. 



COTTONTAIL AND THE WISHING-FAIRY 13 

Her name is “Stella” and she 
lives in a beautiful place with 
lovely flowers all around her 
and what do you think her little 
house is? A big, white lily! 

When she wants to sleep she goes 
into the lily and the lily closes 
up very tight and when she 
wakes up the lily opens wide so 
she can come out. The bell to 
her pretty lily-house is one of 
those cunning little golden 
things that are deep down in the 
middle of a flower. (You can 
see them in any flower if you look very carefully.) They are 
called stamens — at least some of them are called stamens but 
the biggest little golden thing is a pistil — (not the kind you 
shoot with) . 

If any one wants to wake Stella when she is in the lily-house 
they pull the tiny golden pistil and out she comes! 

Stella has a teeny, weeny crown on her head with a star on 
it and in her hand she holds a wand. That also has a star on 
it. Those stag’s were too small to stay in the sky where all the 
other stars are. So they fell down to earth and Stella caught 
them as they fell. Stella’s dress is made of rose leaves and she 
fans herself with a dragon-fly wing! What do you think she 
rides? A beautiful butterfly! She sits on the butterfly’s back 



14 THE WISHING-FAIRY’S ANIMAL FRIENDS 

and away they go through the air. 

The bees are buzzing around 
all day getting honey out of the 
flowers but there are two bees 
who get honey for Stella only. 
That is all she likes to eat, but 
she drinks water out of a blue- 
bell — because a blue-bell is just 
like a tiny cup — and every morn- 
ing there is one drop of water 
way down in it 

There are lots of funny little men who take care of Stella. 
They are called Brownies and they sit on mushrooms and in 
J ack-in-the-pulpits. 

What do you think Stella’s lights are at night? The fire- 
flies! Have you ever seen fireflies? Well, you watch some 
evening and you will see tiny little lights all around that shine 
and then go out and shine and then go out; and you will know 
that they are the fireflies. 

Cottontail was very tired. He had been running for a 
long time, so he sat down to rest and all of a sudden he saw a 
Brownie hop down from a Jack-in-the-pulpit. 

“What do you want?” said the Brownie. 

“I want to see the Wishing-Fairy,” Cottontail answered. 

“Well,” said the Brownie, “you are much too big. First 
you must drink some of the water in that pool.” 



COTTONTAIL AND THE WISHING-FAIRY 15 


“Why must I do that?” Cottontail asked. 

“Don’t talk so much. Try it and see what happens,” and 
the Brownie laughed and laughed. “You will be very sur- 
prised.” 

Cottontail was much bigger than the Brownie, so he 
couldn’t understand why he would be surprised ; but he wanted 
very much to see what was going to happen, so he hopped over 
to the pool and drank some of the water. 

“There,” he said, “I have had a drink 
out of the pool. I would like a carrot 
now.” 

“A carrot!” laughed the Brownie. “You 
drank in the ‘Get-little-pool’ and now you 
are too small to eat a carrot. A carrot is 
much bigger than you are now. You could 
not even hold a carrot in your paws. Look 
at your paws and see how small they are.” 
Cottontail looked at his paws, and, sure 
enough, they were tiny little things, and then he looked around 
at his tail and he could not see it at all. He was now as small 
as a — well, let’s see — as small as a baby mouse. He began to 
cry because he was frightened. 

“Oh, Brownie,” he cried. “I’m too small to eat and I think 
I am too small to get home. I live very far away. Oh, this 
is terrible!” and he began crying harder and harder. 




i6 THE WISHING-FAIRY’S ANIMAL FRIENDS 


“Now that is all right, Cottontail. Stop crying,” — and the 
nice little Brownie patted him on the back. “You are small 
because you drank out of the Get-little-pool. You had to do 
that so as to be little enough to go in and see Stella. When you 
want to go home again, all you have to do is to drink out of the 
Get-big-pool and all of a sudden you will be just as you were 
before, and then you will be big enough to eat carrots and 
go klipperty-kip, klipperty-kip home again.” 

“Where is the Get-big-pool?” asked Cottontail. 

“There it is,” and the Brownie pointed to another pool that 
was close by them. “Do you want to see Stella, the Wishing- 
Fairy, now?” 

“Yes, indeed,” said Cottontail, and he began jumping up and 
down, for he was so glad. 

“Well, come with me,” said the little Brownie. “I think 
we will have to wake her up. Yes, the lily is closed. That 
means she is inside.” 

The Brownie went to the lily and pulled the little golden 
bell. 

All of a sudden the lily opened, and there stood Stella. She 
was so pretty that Cottontail could not say a word. He just 
looked and looked at her. 

“What is your name?” Stella asked him. 

“Cottontail is my name, and I live very, very far away. It 
took me a long time to reach the End-of-the-earth. I hope 
my Daddy and Mother don’t think that I am lost.” 

“Why did you come to see me?” the fairy asked. 


COTTONTAIL AND THE WISHING-FAIRY 17 

“Well, it is a secret,” answered Cottontail, looking sideways 
at the Brownie; for he wished to be alone with Stella. 

“All right,” said Stella, “come and whisper it in my ear.” 

Cottontail hopped over to her, and she put her head quite 
near his, and Cottontail whispered in her ear, “I came to 
you because you are called the Wishing-Fairy and you can 
make any wish come true. My wish is to have very big ears 
so that I can hear better. My mother says I am curious, and 
I think she must be right for I want to hear everything, all the 
funny little sounds in the woods and gardens and 
in the air. Can you do that for me?” 

“Yes, I can and I will,” answered Stella. “I 
am the Wishing-Fairy and I can make any wish 
come true. All I have to do is to wave my wand 
three times around your head while you make your 
wish and then — well, you will see.” 

Stella turned to the Brownie, who was sitting on a big mush- 
room near them, and told him to bring her the wand. When 
he came back with it, Stella told Cottontail to kneel down. 
He had a hard time doing it, because as you know rabbits do 
not kneel ; they sit on their hind legs. 

Cottontail knelt down and peeped out of the corner of hi® 
eye to see what was happening. 

Stella took the wand with the tiny star on the end of it and 
waved it slowly over his head. Cottontail had a very queer 
feeling in his head ; but he did not dare move. Stella waved 
her wand again, and Cottontail felt his ears growing and grow- 



i8 THE WISHING-FAIRY’S ANIMAL FRIENDS 

ing. Stella waved her wand a 
third time, and Cottontail was so 
excited that he jumped up and 
down and began hopping around 
and around. He was so happy; 
because all of a sudden his ears 
had become very, very long. 

“Oh, thank you, you nice 
Wishing-Fairy, my wish has 
come true! I am so glad. Why, now I can hear everything. 
I am very hungry. May I have a carrot?” 

The Brownie began to laugh, so Cottontail turned around 
and looked at him. 

“Why are you laughing, Mr. Brownie?” he asked. 

“I am laughing because you have forgotten that you will 
have to drink in the Get-big-pool before you are big enough 
to eat a carrot Come along with me and I will show you 
where it is.” 

Cottontail told Stella good-by and went with the Brownie. 
He leaned down over the pool and took a sip of water. All 
of a sudden he — what do you think? He was just as big as 
he had been before he drank the water out of the Get-little- 
pool. 







■‘And the W'ishing-Fairy gave all of them long ears 














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COTTONTAIL AND THE WISHING-FAIRY 


19 


He was thinking that he had never had so many funny things 
happen to him, when he saw four Brownies pulling something. 
It seemed too heavy for them, and they were having a very 
hard time with it; so he hopped over to ask if he could help, 
and what do you think they were pulling? A carrot! Just 
one carrot! But you see the Brownies are not half as big as 
a carrot, so it must have been awfully heavy for them to 
carry. 

As Cottontail was terribly hungry he ate it all up, and then 
he told the kind little Brownies good-by and started back klip- 
perty-kip, klipperty-kip, klipperty-kip, to show his daddy and 
mother and sister and brother rabbits his nice new long ears. 

All the way home he could hear the things the birds were 
telling one another, what the bees were whispering to the flow- 
ers — what the breeze was singing to the earth, and he could 
even hear all the little voices in the woods that no one else can 
hear. 

Now you know why the rabbit has long ears ; because he can 
hear everything. 




II 


MR. AND MRS. OWL AND THE WISHING-FAIRY 


T took Cottontail an awfully long while to reach his 
“family, and he was very glad and terribly tired when at 
last he hopped into his home and saw Daddy and 
Mother Rabbit and his brothers and sisters. They all 
began talking at once. 

“Where in the world have you been?” asked Daddy 
Rabbit. 

“Why are you so tired?” Mother Rabbit asked him. 
“Were you lost?” a little sister rabbit asked. 

“What on earth has happened to your ears? They 
are so long,” a little brother rabbit began. “Why, I 
have never seen such ears!” Then they all started hopping 


20 


MR. AND MRS. OWL 


21 


around him, and everybody looked at his new long ears. Cot- 
tontail was so proud of them that he put his ears straight up 
that each one might see how long they were. 

“I want some ears like yours,” cried a little sister rabbit. 
“They are beautiful. How can I get them?” 

“You can,” answered Cottontail. “Let us sit down and 
I will tell you all about everything. To begin with, I ran to 
the End-of-the-earth, because at the End-of-the-earth the 
Wishing-Fairy lives.” 

“Who is she?” Mother Rabbit asked. 

“Well,” said Cottontail, “her name is ‘Stella,’ and she is 
called the Wishing-Fairy because she can make anybody’s wish 
come true if they go and see her and tell it to her. You always 
said I was curious. Mother, and I think you were right, be- 
cause I wished that I could hear everything, so I went and 
told her so and she made my ears long and now — what do you 
think? Now — I can hear everything!” 

“Is it hard to find the Wishing-Fairy?” they all asked at the 
same time. 



22 THE WISHING-FAIRY’S ANIMAL FRIENDS 


“Yes, it is,” Cottontail answered, “but if you want. I’ll go 
with you and show you where she is — I am tired now; but 
when I am rested I’ll take you there.” 

“Oh, yes, indeed, we do want to go ! We want to hear every- 
thing too.” They were so happy that all the rabbits began 
hopping around and kissing Cottontail, and patting his beauti- 
ful long ears and laughing. 

Cottontail told them about Stella, the Wishing-Fairy, her 
lily-house, the Brownies, the Getr 
little-pool and the Get-big-pool. 
He told them about everything. 
Then they all went fast asleep in the 
warm hole where they lived. 

A few days after that Cottontail took the whole family to 
the End-of-the-earth to see the Wishing-Fairy, and she gave 
all of them long ears. Then the rabbits began hopping klip- 
perty-kip, klipperty-kip, klipperty-kip home. 

On the way back Cottontail’s smallest sister began to cry, 
for she was very tired, so they all sat down to rest a bit and 
while they were resting they heard a funny noise up in the 
trees. 

They all looked up and listened— now they could hear every- 
thing. What do you think they saw? 

Way up in a tree there were two owls! They were looking 
down at the rabbits and whispering — and looking and whis- 
pering. 

The rabbits could even hear what they were whispering. 



MR. AND MRS. OWL 23 

“Are those rabbits, do you think?” they heard Mrs. Owl 
ask Mr. Owl. 

“Whoever saw rabbits with ears as long as theirs?” — and 
Mr. Owl began laughing. 

“Well,” answered Mrs. Owl, "'what are they? Shall we ask 
them?” 

“Come down here on the ground,” old Daddy Rabbit called 
to them. 

“Yes, come down,” cried all the other rabbits. 

Mr. and Mrs. Owl flew down very slowly, because they were 
a little afraid. 

“You need not be afraid of us,” said Cottontail; “we are 
only rabbits.” 

“Rabbits — with ears like yours!” Mr. Owl said, in a very 
astonished way. 

“Yes, rabbits,” answered Mother Rabbit. “Stella gave us 
these nice long ears. We think they are beautiful, and besides 
— now we can hear everything.” 

“Who is Stella?” Mr. and Mrs. Owl asked. 

So the rabbits told the owls about the Wishing-Fairy, and 
Mr. and Mrs. Owl were very interested. 

“Would you mind telling us where Stella lives?” begged 
Mrs. Owl, “because we have a wish too.” 

“All right,” said Cottontail. “All you have to do is to fly 
over there,” — and he pointed with one of his long ears — “and 
just keep on flying until you come to the End-of-the-earth 
— and — well, you will find her.” 


24 THE WISHING-FAIRY’S ANIMAL FRIENDS 

“Thank you so much,” said Mr. Owl very politely. 

“Yes, thanks lots/' Mrs. Owl said. “I think we had better 
start now,” and off they flew. 

They flew and they flew, and when they came to the End-of- 
the-earth it was night and so dark that they could not see a 



thing, so they both sat up in the branch of a tree and waited 
for morning. As soon as it began to be light they saw the bees 
and butterflies wake up, and they also saw the Brownies jump 
down from the Jack-in-the-pulpits where they had been sleep- 
ing. The bees seemed very busy. They were getting honey 
for Stella’s breakfast. 

One of the Brownies passed under the tree in which Mr. and 
Mrs. Owl were sitting. The Brownie was carrying a blue-bell 
flower in which there was a drop of water; that also was for 
Stella’s breakfast. All of a sudden the Brownie looked up 
and he saw the two owls. 

“Hello,” he called out, “what are you doing?” 


MR. AND MRS. OWL 


25 


“We came here to see Stella, the Wishing-Fairy,” answered 
Mr. Owl in a very sleepy voice, for he was tired. 
He and Mrs. Owl had been flying from so far 
away. 

“I suppose the rabbits must have told you 
about Stella,” said the Brownie. “There were 
a lot of rabbits here. All right, just wait awhile 
and I will tell her.” 

“Thank you very much,” said the 
owls. “Do you suppose it will be long 
before we can have a little talk with 
her?” 

“I’ll see,” answered the Brownie. 
“She is going to have her 
bath and her breakfast 
now, and then she will 
see you. While I am 
with her you both might 
come down and have a 



26 THE WISHING-FAIRY’S ANIMAL FRIENDS 


drink out of the Get-little-pool, so that you will be ready.” 

“Ready for what?” asked the owls. 

“Ready to see Stella,” answered the Brownie. 

“I don’t understand,” said Mrs. Owl. 

“Well, you will soon,” — the Brownie laughed — “Just have 
a little drink and then you will see what I mean.” 

By this time both Mr. and Mrs. Owl were very curious; 
so down they flew and began drinking out of the Get-little-pool. 

“I’ve had enough,” began Mrs. Owl, and she looked around 
to see Mr. Owl. “My Gracious! What has happened to 
you? Why, all of a sudden you are only about as big as one 
of my feathers, you — ” 

“Well, you needn’t talk like that,” answered Mr. Owl; “you 
ought to see yourself! Ha-ha-ha!” and he was laughing so 
that he could not talk for a minute. “Why, you are about as 
big as my ear! Ha-ha!” 

“What has happened to us?” cried Mrs. Owl; but just then 
the Brownie ran up to them. 



MR. AND MRS. OWL 


27 

“Oh! Now you are quite ready,” he said. “Come with 
me, for Stella is waiting for you.” 

The owls were so surprised about everything that they did 
not quite know what was happening until they found them- 
selves one on each side of the Wishing-Fairy, and each whis- 
pering in her ear at the same time. The next thing they knew 
she was waving her wand around their heads and then they 
noticed that their eyes were growing bigger and bigger — be- 
cause, you see, their wish had been to be able to see better. 
They found themselves being led by the little old Brownies to 
another pool. (It was the Get-big-pool.) They had a drink 
out of that, and then the next thing they knew they were both 
sitting away up on a tree. 

“Well! Did you ever!” they both said at once. “Here we 
are again. Why, we are just as big as we ever were and our 
eyes are — like saucers, and there doesn’t seem to be anything 
we cannot see, no matter how far away it is! It is wonder- 
ful! Now I suppose we might as well fly home,” and off 
they started. 

They flew and flew and it began to grow dark. The moon 
and stars were shining and — what do you think? They found 
that even in the dark they could see everything! 

Now you know why the owls have such big eyes. 




Ill 


THE KANGAROO AND THE WISHING-FAIRY 




AVE you ever seen a kangaroo? 

Here is a picture of one. 

The Kangaroo can go very fast, 
for it has long hind legs and can 
jump awfully far. 

One day the Kangaroo, who had been hopping 
around for a long while, thought she would lie 
down and rest. She had left her baby kangaroo 
in her home, because whenever she 
took her baby with her she lost it and 
would have a dreadful time finding 
it. Baby kangaroos are always hopping around without re- 
membering that they must not go too far away from their 
mother or they will get lost. 


THE KANGAROO AND THE WISHING-FAIRY 29 


The mother kangaroo went fast asleep. She slept a long 
time, and at last woke up, because she felt something tickling 
her ear. She jumped a little, and there, standing on her paw, 
was a tiny little man in brown with a funny cap on his head. 
In his hand he held a blade of grass and was laughing as he 
tickled the kangaroo’s ear with it. 

“Well,” said the Kangaroo, “who on earth are you ? I never 
saw a man as tiny as you are! You are not as big as my 
baby’s foot!! Who are you, anyhow?” 

Do you know who it was? No? 

Listen — the little man laughed a long time. “What makes 
you think I am a man? I’m not. I am«a Brownie and I live 
here with Stella.” 

“Who is Stella?” the Kangaroo asked. 

“Who is StellaV’ said the Brownie. “Well, I am surprised. 
I thought every one knew about Stella! She is the Wishing- 
Fairy. I mean by that, that she makes wishes come true.” 

“Can she make any wish come true?” 

“Yes, indeed, she can,” answered the Brownie proudly. 

“Isn’t that wonderful,” said the Kangaroo. “Well, I must 
run home now and take care of my baby. I had to leave it 
home because I generally lose it when I take it with me. How 
I wish that I could always keep it with me!” 

“If you wish that,” said the Brownie, “why don’t 
you tell Stella? She will make it happen.” 



30 THE WISHING-FAIRY’S ANIMAL FRIENDS 

“Do you think she could?” 

“I’m sure she could. Come. Do you see that little pool of 
water over there?” — and the Brownie pointed with the blade 
of grass that he still held in his hand. 

“Yes,” nodded the Kangaroo, “what about it?” 

“That,” answered the Brownie, “is the Get-little-pool. You 
must drink out of that so as to become very small — ” 

“But I am big,” said the Kangaroo, “and I don’t want to 
be small.” 

“Oh! that’s all right,” explained the Brownie; “you have to 
be small enough to speak to Stella. You see, she is not quite 
as big as I am. As soon as you have talked with her I will 
show you the Get-big-pool, and after you drink from that 
you will again be just as big as you now are. Are you 
coming?” 

“Yes, indeed.” And the Kangaroo went over to the pool 
with the Brownie and took a swallow of the water in the Get- 
little-pool. Just then Stella came towards them. 

“I heard you two talking,” she began. “Did you want to see 
me?” 

“Well,” said the Kangaroo, “I was telling the Brownie that 
I wish I could keep my baby with me, and he said you could 
make my wish come true; but I don’t see how you can, because 
I can’t carry it in my arms as I need them to jump with, and 
my baby is not strong enough to hold on to the fur of my chest 
the way baby monkeys hang on to their mothers, and I can not 
carry it in my mouth, the way mother cats do, because my baby 


THE KANGAROO AND THE WISHING-FAIRY 31 


cried when I tried to do that So I really do not see what you 
can do about it Do you?” 

Stella was very quiet a minute. 

“Yes, I’ve thought of a way. You see people carry their 
babies in their arms or tie them on their backs. If your baby 
were put on your back, it would fall off when you jump; so I 
am going to give you a big warm pocket, and you can stick your 
baby in that, and it will be perfectly safe there.” 

With that she waved her wand three times over the Kan- 
garoo’s head, and, sure enough, when the Kangaroo looked 
down, there was a big warm fur pocket right over her stomach ! 

“Oh, that is a wonderful idea! Thank you ever so much,” 
said the Kangaroo. “Now, I’ll drink out of the Get-big-pool, 



for I can hardly wait to get home and try 


carrying my baby around in my new pocket. 
Good-by, and thank you again.” 

1 “Good-by,” answered Stella. 

“Good-by,” called out the little Brownie, 
y /I “Aren’t you glad I tickled your ear and woke 
' A up?” 

“Indeed, I am,” said the Kangaroo. “If 
you hadn’t, I should never have known about 
nJ I Stella, and I should never have had the lovely 


big pocket. Thanks 
very much, and 
, good-by.” 


Never had the 


kangaroo jumped as 


32 THE WISHING-FAIRY’S ANIMAL FRIENDS 


fast as she did that day, and in a very short time she was home 
again. She found her baby fast asleep. She didn’t care if 
she woke it or not, she was in such a hurry to put it in her 
pocket. It just fitted in, and the baby kangaroo liked it be- 
cause it was warm and comfortable, and the mother kangaroo 
liked it because she had her baby in a good safe place. 

So now the baby kangaroo can go everywhere with its 
mother, and it is never lost. 




THE ERMINE GOES TO SEE STELLA 


HERE is a little animal called the Ermine. In 
summer its fur is gray and brown, while in winter 
it becomes perfectly white. I wonder if you know 
why it changes colors in this queer way. The reason 
is that in summer when there are grasses and leaves 
and flowers it has colored fur, and in winter when 
there is snow on the ground it has white fur and 
looks just the same as the snow, so that in this way 
you can hardly see it when it is on the snow. Bigger 
animals and tremendous birds such as the chicken 
hawk cannot easily see it or catch and kill it. 

But the little Ermine didn’t know this. One day while it 
was running across the snow it saw Cottontail, the rabbit, who 
was sitting up very straight because he was frightened. Rab- 

33 


34 THE WISHING-FAIRY’S ANIMAL FRIENDS 

bits are frightened of the Ermine, because ermine can run 
even quicker than they can, and ermine eat rabbits. They 
leap much faster than a rabbit can jump, and then they 
pounce on the rabbit and their sharp little teeth fasten in the 
rabbit’s neck, and that is the end of the rabbit. 

When Cottontail saw the Ermine he crouched down, hoping 



he had not been seen; but the Ermine had already seen him, 
so Cottontail ran away off; but the Ermine hurried after 
him. 

“Stop, Cottontail,” he called. “I won’t hurt you.” 

But Cottontail hurried even faster. 

“Please, Cottontail, I promise I won’t hurt you. I only 
want to ask you a question.” 

But Cottontail by this time was going like the wind. 

“Please, Cottontail, I promise. No one can break a prom- 


THE ERMINE GOES TO SEE STELLA 


35 


ise — you know that. Please stop a minute. I won’t even 
come very near you if you will only stop so that I can talk to 
you.” 

Cottontail ran a little slower and looking out of the corner 
of his eye he saw that the Ermine had stopped altogether, so 
he stopped too. 

“What do you want?” he called back. 

“I only want to ask you where you got those long, beautiful 
ears,” the Ermine answered. 

“The Wishing-Fairy gave them to me.” 

“Who is that?” the Ermine asked. 

Cottontail, who was quite far away from the Ermine, told 
all about Stella and his wonderful visit to her at the End-of- 
the-earth. 

The Ermine was very interested, and he asked Cottontail 
if he would take him there, but Cottontail told him that 
nothing could make him go with him to the End-of-the-earth 
because he was scared of the Ermine and Stella lived very far 
away. 

“But you ask the owls to show you,” he said. “Perhaps 
they will because you can’t catch them; they can fly ahead 
of you.” 

“That is a good idea,” the Ermine answered. “I’ll do that 
to-night. It is very nice of you to tell me all this. Cottontail, 
and you see I kept my promise. I didn’t hurt you. No one 
can possibly break a promise.” 

“Yes, you kept your promise,” Cottontail answered, “but. 


36 THE WISHING-FAIRY’S ANIMAL FRIENDS 

just the same, I wish you would turn around and go the other 
way. Go and see the owls now.” 

“Very well,” said the Ermine; “good-by. Thanks again,” 
and off he started for the old tree where the owls lived. 

When he reached the tree he knew it was a silly thing to do, 
for owls always sleep in the daytime and fly around at night. 
So he went away, and that evening just as the moon was show- 



ing over the hills he went back 
and waited under the owls’ tree. 

Presently he saw them come 
out of the big hole that was half 
way up the trunk of the tree. 

“Hello there, Mrs. Owl,” he 
called very softly. 

“Good evening, Mr. Ermine,” 
she said. 

“Mrs. Owl,” the Ermine be- 
gan, “I saw Cottontail this after- 
noon and he told me all about 
the Wishing-Fairy. I want to 
see her so I asked him if he 
would show me the way, but he 
said he wouldn’t and told me to 
ask you.” 

“Why do you want to see 
her?” Mrs. Owl asked. 

“Because in the winter when 


THE ERMINE GOES TO SEE STELLA 


37 

my fur becomes white, Tm so white that on the snow I can’t 
see myself.” 

“Well, I should think you would be very glad,” answered 
Mrs. Owl, “because the larger animals can’t see you either, 
and it is much safer for you.” 

“Just the same I should like to see Stella. Will you take 
me to her?” 

“Wait one moment,” Mrs. Owl said, and disappeared in the 
hole in the tree. In a minute she came out with Mr. Owl. 

“We are going back this evening,” said Mr. Owl, “to thank 
her for our wonderful eyes. She gave us these big eyes and 
we can see everything now. We can even see in the dark. If 
you want to, you may follow us. We are going now.” 

The Ermine had a hard time following them, because by 
this time it was very dark. Once he lost them, but after a 
few minutes the owls came back and found him and off they 
started again. 

After he had seen Stella he couldn’t at first see that he was 
at all changed and he was very disappointed. He sat down 
near the Get-big-pool and cried quietly. A Brownie came 
up to him. 

“What is the trouble?” the Brownie asked. 

“I’m so unhappy,” sobbed the Ermine. “I think Stella 
might have made my wish come true.” 

“What was your wish?” the Brownie asked. 

“I wished that she would do something for me so that I 
can see myself when I’m on the snow. I never know what 


38 THE WISHING-FAIRY’S ANIMAL FRIENDS 

is snow or what is me because we are both plain white. It is 
too bad,” and he began crying again. 

“Well, before you cry so much,” said the Brownie, “you had 
better look at yourself again.” 

The Ermine stopped crying. 

“What do you mean?” — and he jumped up very quickly. 

He looked first at his right paw and then at his left — then 
he turned his head around, and when he saw his tail he began 
laughing, because he was so happy. 

The tip of his tail was black! 

That is the reason of the black tip of the Ermine’s tail ; so 
that all he has to do is to turn around and when he sees the 
little spot of black on the snow he can find himself. The 



THE ERMINE GOES TO SEE STELLA 


39 


bigger animals can also, but it’s all right. They see the 
black spot on the snow and jump for it; but it’s at the end of 
the Ermine’s tail so they always miss him, for by the time they 
reach the black spot the Ermine has passed by. If the black 
tip were on his nose it would be very terrible, for then they 
would always catch him. 

You see there is always a reason for everything. 
















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